Bumbershoot 2015 Preview: Seattle artists take the spotlight

As editor of Indie-Music, it’s my pleasure and honor to get to listen to tons of great new music that lands in my inbox. And we’ve been fortunate to have a wealth of talent in our backyard that we get to go check out live at nearby bars and the occasionally large stage. But nothing blows my skirt up more than getting to see some of my favorite Indie Spotlight Artists take the stage at Bumbershoot 2015. And this year is no exception with highly anticipated sets from Kris Orlowski, The Grizzled Mighty, and Fox and the Law.

The above artists were all featured as part of our Indie Spotlight Artists with their most recent albums, and they couldn’t be more different. Variety and depth of songwriting, however, ties them all together in an unusually deep pool of talent in Seattle. Bumbershoot has always been highly supportive of local and regional talent alongside national headliners. Take a look and listen at these three featured artists for a glimpse at what the hometown team has to offer this Labor Day weekend.

Kris Orlowski (folk / pop)
Kris Orlowski is a man. And a band. Specifically, Kris Orlowski is the frontman for the Kris Orlowski band. A quintet out of Seattle that has up until now released three successful EPs, garnered a good chunk of tv and movie placement and developed something of a steady following in the Pacific Northwest. But it seems that being known as one of the most reliably energetic and generally affable acts in that region just isn’t enough; now the band has gone and released a long-anticipated full-length album, Believer.

Orlowski, the man, has an easy way about him; smooth vocals, charged stage presence and a good energy that comes across both live and captured on record. Orlowski’s lyrical style is candid, sincere and charming; and the rest of the players follow suit with a potent array of instrumentation that provides a richness and depth to each of the songs on Believer. This translates into a tapestry of melodies and harmonies that intertwine and fall away naturally throughout the record. And it makes for a great listen.

The Grizzled Mighty (rock / blues)
“The Grizzled Mighty was formed in the fiery belly of an active volcano. From the center of the Earth they erupted, spewed forth like a flaming phoenix.” There is no better way to say that as this hard-rocking duo from Seattle’s press kit spells out so boldly exactly what it sounds like the first (and every subsequent) time you hear The Grizzled Mighty. I love a tight, loud, ferocious hard-rocking duo; and it’s been awhile since I’ve heard one that sounds this good on record. And this duo just seems to get better and better with the release of their third album, Closed Knuckle Jaw.

As a listener, it’s pure musical therapy; after a long week of highs, lows and everything in between, putting this record on at full volume has a way of dispelling the demons that lurk in the shadows. And there’s that word: pure. Ryan Granger (vocals, guitar) and Lupe Flores (drums) do not make music full of posture or pretentious drama. Enter Closed Knuckle Jaw: It’s real, it’s honest, and it’s coming straight at you like a freight train. Even in its quieter moments. And they manage this without sounding heavy; it’s vulnerable but assured in its truth.

Fox and the Law (heavy glam rock)
Turn the volume up really loud before you press play on Stoned to Death, the new album from Seattle’s Fox and the Law. You’re going to want to make sure you experience this one in all its heavy blues glam rock glory. Let the massive guitar lines wash over you and the drums beat you over the head like they’re meant to. Then imagine yourself listening to this live, covered in sweat, beer and some other unidentifiable substance and, well, you get the idea…

The first few seconds of “Cheap Talk,” the lead track on Stoned to Death, immediately put me in the position to recapture the youthful enthusiasm I felt when I had my first experience listening to Seattle bands a few years back - namely Mother Love Bone, Mudhoney and Love Battery. There’s an unapologetic confidence, passion and visceral quality to those artists that’s carried into the current scene in Seattle by Fox and the Law. And that confidence. That’s what sets great Seattle bands apart from others; I always get a thrill when I see a band like Fox and the Law because they do their own thing, and they do it with swagger and style. So when “Cheap Talk” comes out swinging right in your face in all its guitar-laden, drum-driving glory, it’s hard not to fall under their devious spell immediately.

Also appearing at Bumbershoot 2015 are local (and critically-acclaimed) artists Hey Marseilles, The Cave Singers, Minus the Bear, Sisters, Smokey Brights, native Seattleite Robert DeLong and so much local goodness it makes my head spin. Truth be told, I’m most excited to hear these hometown heroes rip it up onstage for thousands of unsuspecting new fans to hear.